https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / News / South African News RSS ← Back
Business|Financial|Infrastructure|PROJECT|Roads|Services|Infrastructure
Business|Financial|Infrastructure|PROJECT|Roads|Services|Infrastructure
business|financial|infrastructure|project|roads|services|infrastructure
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Article Enquiry

Suspicion surrounds senior municipal officials' trip to the Rugby World Cup

Close

Embed Video

Suspicion surrounds senior municipal officials' trip to the Rugby World Cup

26th October 2023

By: News24Wire

SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

Pressure is mounting on the Theewaterskloof municipality to explain why two senior political office bearers jetted off to France to attend the Rugby World Cup final, seemingly under the guise of an official state visit.

The Democratic Alliance (DA), the municipality's opposition party, is leading the charge against the deputy mayor, John Michels, of the GOOD Party and the council Speaker, Derick Appel.

Advertisement

The DA claims the pair is "attending the Rugby World Cup under the guise of an official State visit".

The pair jetted off to France on Monday and will be out of the country until next week.

Advertisement

The trip angered opposition parties, who expressed concern about who was forking out for the trip.

The DA said it noted a letter addressed to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) by the Theewaterskloof municipal manager to request approval for the trip.

In the letter to Dirco, which News24 has seen, the municipality asked for permission to visit embassies. 

"The delegation is kindly requesting a meeting and paying a courtesy visit to the Embassy in the United Kingdom and France with the relevant officials to discuss trade and investments. Given the official travel to both the United Kingdom and France, it would be highly appreciated if a verbal note be provided," the letter stated.

The DA's Theewaterskloof constituency head, Isaac Sileku, said: "If the official visits are an excuse to attend the Rugby World Cup, executives from a municipality like Theewaterskloof – where services continue to crumble under their corrupt and incapable leadership – should be ashamed.

He added, "The officials also plan to travel to the United Kingdom to meet with the Leicester Tigers Rugby Club and pay a courtesy visit to the South African Embassies in both the United Kingdom and France."

The municipality's spokesperson, Hugo Geldenhuys, told News24 that no costs were incurred.

"The narrative that the Speaker and deputy mayor were 'sent' to France by the municipality is wrong. The municipality did not pay for any of their expenses and also did not send them," he said.

Geldenhuys said the pair had decided that, while they were in France, they would visit embassies.

"They would, on their own accord, visit embassies and potential project partners to investigate and forge opportunities for Theewaterskloof municipality and the people of this municipal area.

"The municipality is grateful to the Speaker and deputy mayor for their willingness to negotiate a partnership agreement between Theewaterskloof municipality and French municipalities. This is especially appreciated as it will not cost the municipality anything," he said.

"They will also discuss sporting opportunities for the youths of Theewaterskloof with rugby and other role-players. As they intend to have talks with government organs abroad, the municipal manager wrote a letter to a relevant organ of state to request diplomatic support and recognition for the Speaker and deputy mayor."

The municipality did not clarify whether Appel and Michels were on leave or on official business.

But, according to Dirco, they did not give permission, nor did they receive a letter.

"The director-general has not received such a request or approved such a request. It would be a very strange request to receive because it's not the competency of municipalities to speak to embassies. We would not have supported the request," said Clayson Monyela, the spokesperson for Dirco.

Appel told News24: "We paid for the trip by ourselves and not the municipality."

Michels was asked for comment. It will be added once received.

The African National Congress's (ANC's) Theewaterskloof caucus defended the trip.

"While this is indeed an official visit in the interests of grassroots rugby development, which coincides with the Rugby World Cup final, the Speaker and deputy mayor are covering their own expenses instead of consuming their time spreading untruths for the sake of cheap political points and thereby seeking to damage the image of Theewaterskloof," ANC chief whip Bongiwe Mkhwibiso said.

The troubled municipality has, for months, been beset by financial troubles.

Five weeks ago, devastating floods ravaged the area, destroying roads and crucial infrastructure in the town.

MEC for local government Anton Bredell's spokesperson, Wouter Kriel, said the department was not involved with the arrangement or funding of this trip.

"We learned about the trip through informal channels. Since we have no information on how or by whom this visit is funded, we cannot comment on the merit thereof," he said.

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options

Email Registration Success

Thank you, you have successfully subscribed to one or more of Creamer Media’s email newsletters. You should start receiving the email newsletters in due course.

Our email newsletters may land in your junk or spam folder. To prevent this, kindly add newsletters@creamermedia.co.za to your address book or safe sender list. If you experience any issues with the receipt of our email newsletters, please email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za